


Marx: The Space Voyage

by atlasondemand



Category: Kirby (Video Games), Kirby - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Canon Universe, Character Development, Gen, Redemption, Side Story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-02 19:47:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16793584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlasondemand/pseuds/atlasondemand
Summary: Marx awakens in the wreckage of Galactic Nova with new powers and some sense knocked into him. A new adventure begins as he seeks a way home, forming unexpected alliances and making new enemies along the way.





	1. The Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> Some quick notes:  
> -Kirby is referred to with they/them pronouns.  
> -The story follows Kirby canon, and as such there will be spoilers for Super Star and other games in the series. I plan to reference lore and characters from across all the games!  
> -A few headcanons will be included.  
> -The story is rated 'teens and up' due to some foul-mouthed language from Marx, mentions of alcohol, and potentially dark themes.

...

...

My eyes slowly begin to open.

The last thing I can remember is... pain?

But here I am, now... here I am, alive...

I shake my entire body, flinging metallic bits into the infinite blackness. A sharp pain seems to slice its way through my middle, piercing me like a spear. That hurts. I shouldn't do that again.

Another thing occurs to me, and it's the fact that I am, indeed, in space.

It's all coming back to me now. I groan loudly - well, as loud as a jester can groan in the vacuum of space - as I recall my intense battle with the pink puffball.

Yes, that's right... Kirby...

The name brings me an undeniably negative emotion.

They had ruined everything. They had spoiled my plans and destroyed the only thing that could help me bring them to fruition, and yet... it's not _hatred_ that I feel towards them, per se... I can't seem to place it, but I most certainly despise feeling it.

I try to unfurl my wings, and sure enough, they appear like magic - but they are broken. Damaged. I'm not going to get anywhere in this state. I sigh deeply and allow them to vanish again.

For a while, I sorta float in place, tumbling about in the zero gravity. There's not much to look at, aside from the billions of glittering stars and the constant, burning reminder of my own failures. The fragments of Galactic Nova shimmer gloriously, reflecting the beautiful lights directly into my eyes; I squeeze them shut, as I am starting to get motion sickness.

...

A thought comes to mind - will I be stuck out here... forever?

...It's only what I deserve, right?

The people of Pop Star would never want me back. I tricked the sun and the moon into fighting, and then... _kinda_ tried to take over their whole planet, after all. I'm sure Kirby is sleeping soundly right now, already forgetting our encounter - and yet, here I am, still stranded in space, mulling over the whole situation. I envy them to an uncomfortable degree right now.

A piece of metal bounces painfully off my head. I growl in anger and attempt to move towards it, kicking it as hard as I can with my foot. The motion causes me to begin performing uncontrollable flips in the air. So here I am, not only stranded in space and injured, but also still acting like a complete idiot.

The spinning slowly but surely comes to a halt, leaving me wanting to vomit. My vision comes back into focus, and I find myself staring at a bright light in the distance. My mouth twists into a wicked, toothy grin.

Yes... that's right. There's an outpost nearby. A salvagers' outpost.

A place for all that is lost, or perhaps... stolen. A place full of sorry, stranded saps like me. The metaphorical gears begin to turn in my mind - perhaps I can find someone there, someone who can help me out.

I spot a large, flat piece of scrap, and desperately swim my way over to it. Using my hat as extra appendages, I grab onto it and squirm around until I'm in an upright position. From there, I turn myself away from the outpost. I open my mouth and cough, sending a few sparks flying.

I give it another shot. Still nothing.

I try one more time, coughing up a storm, revving myself up like an engine. Finally, something powerful begins to charge, bursting from my mouth with an intense blast of energy; a massive laser, propelling the metal platform - and myself - towards the outpost at a high speed.

I hold on tight as I begin to spin out of control once more. I can't tell if I'm still on track to the outpost or not - but I'm going somewhere, and I'm going there fast. At this point, I'm close to blacking out. In-between rotations, I see the lights of the outpost becoming larger as I catapult towards it. I feel the familiar pull of gravity, drastically affecting my trajectory. It's been so long since I've felt its grip, dragging me down from the stars and back to reality.

With grace and dignity, I crash.

...

I see stars, and not the good kind.

Slowly regaining my bearings, I come to my feet and check out the area. A large, fort like structure towers over me, multicolored lights twinkling in the darkness. I can hear gruff voices, hearty laughter, and the haunting blare of some strange instrument from inside. I can't help but jump with joy, sending rippling pains all throughout my body. This time, I don't mind it.

It’s time to rock this joint.


	2. The Stranger

Hundreds of banners and flags from across the galaxy wave to me as I pass them, trotting towards the entrance. This outpost seems to be home to all kinds of folks, from every corner of space. I take a quick look at the numerous starships parked here - all pretty impressive-looking, but one stands out to me...

A massive ship that dwarfs all the others. It is adorned in brilliant blue colors, and sparkles with what seems like magic, with six oars that cut gently through the air. Two large wings flap gently to keep it afloat. The ship is decorated with yellow stars, which frankly, I'm getting quite sick of seeing. I hop around it in awe, examining every inch of the beast. It's unlike any starship I've ever seen before. For a moment I consider stealing it for myself, but I think better of it... for now, at least; maybe I can have a little 'chat' with the owner of this vessel later…

I pause, take a deep breath, and push open the door to the outpost. The faint music becomes much louder as I enter the establishment, pounding uncomfortably and reverberating throughout my skull.

_'Okay, Marx... stay cool... stay cute.'_

I force my face to twist into an adorable smile - an innocent face that even the tough guys here would be willing to trust. It's almost sickening to hold this cute exterior after all that's happened.

I stroll into the main room. There's tables and booths scattered around, seating a bunch of dangerous-looking dudes performing some shady-looking trades. As I pass by these people, I hear bits of their conversations.

"Hey, did you guys hear about the Clockwork Star that blew up a few days ago?”

"Yeah. 'Reckon we should fly out there 'n nab some of those metals. They'd fetch a pretty price."

Hearing them talk about Galactic Nova makes my smile falter briefly, but I reinforce it as hard as I can. A few people give me dirty glances as I shuffle past them, but I can't imagine why. Surely, I don't look _too_ out of place here, right?

There’s a bar near the seating area, maintained by a fancily-dressed bartender and teeming with racks of drinks. I hop onto an empty stool, adjusting myself to get comfortable. After a few seconds, the bartender strolls over to face me. He checks me out, stifling a laugh at what I presume is my ridiculous jester hat.

"You look like you've had a rough time, pal." He says through a thick Florian accent, absentmindedly cleaning a wine glass.

"You wouldn't know the half of it. Give me some strong stuff. I don't care." I respond.

He looks me over one more time and shrugs.

"Whatever. Coming right up."

While he turns around and starts to prepare my drink, I take the opportunity to look at the guy sitting next to me. He looks like a strange person, with his eared hood that completely covers his face, and his gear-patterned cloak. He doesn't seem to pay any mind to me, so I tap him on the shoulder.

"Hey, guy. What's your deal?"

He turns to face me, yellow eyes blinking from underneath his hood.

"Excuse me? My 'deal'? What do you mean?" He asks, with a higher-pitched voice than I was expecting.

"What's going on with you? Why are you here? The basic stuff."

He looks confused, but responds anyway.

"I'm Magolor. I'm from Halcandra."

"…The hell is _Halcandra_? Never heard of it."

He chuckles.

"Of course, you wouldn't have, y'see... I’m from a _different dimension_."

"A different... dimension? Then how are you...--"

"The Lor Starcutter; It can cross dimensional tunnels. It's my pride and joy."

The Lor Starcutter... is that the huge ship I spotted? It must be, right? There’s an uncanny resemblance between that machine and the mysterious stranger sitting next to me now.

"I think I saw it outside… a real beauty, that one."

"Why, thank you! It's not for sale."

I'm taken aback by his response. It's almost as if he read my mind!

"Wh--?"

"People ask me about it all the time; I'm used to it by now."

He tips back the rest of his drink, discreetly wiping his mouth with a gloved hand.

"Hey, you never told me your name. What do people call you?" He asks, looking back to me.

"...Marx."

"Cute. It's nice to meet you."

C-cute...? What the hell does he mean by that? It makes me a little angry, but I keep my composure. The bartender finally finishes preparing my drink.

"One Maxim Sparkle, on the house." He says, sliding it gently towards me.

"On the house...?"

"You look like a hobo. I'd charge you, but you look sad, kid. Consider this a one-time deal."

"Well, thanks, _I guess_..."

I narrow my eyes at the bartender as he turns his back to me once again. My eyes drift down to the drink; a red, sparkling concoction decorated with a small Maxim Tomato. In one motion, I swallow the entire thing, glass and all. Magolor looks dumbfounded.

"So, Mags, got any plans for the future?"

He shakes his head lightly and thinks for a second, lowering his voice to a whisper before answering.

"Well, you could say I've got some stuff planned... big things, in fact. There's a... certain artifact back on Halcandra that I've got my eye on..."

"Do you plan to steal it?!"

"You sound weirdly excited about that… It's kind of creepy. Yeah, sure, I'll find some way to snatch it. But that information is… classified.” He winks at me.

“Y’know, _I_ could help you out…”

“You? Sorry, guy… you don’t seem like you could survive the trip to Halcandra… no offense, ‘n all.”

“No, no, I’m serious! I can do more than you’d think. And I’m, well…” I slump forwards slightly, the pom-poms on my hat dangling pathetically in front of my face. “…I’m stranded out here.”

“You don’t have a way to get home?!”

“Y-yeah… Pop Star is really far from here… It’s a long story.”

“Well… I suppose…” He pauses for a few moments. “...I _could_ use some help. And, in return, I could give you a ride all the way back to Pop Star… how’s that sound?”

My face brightens up.

“That’s a marvelous idea! I’m in!”

“Well, it’s a deal, then. Welcome to the crew, Marx!”

He holds out a hand to me, and I shake it eagerly using my hat. To think, I was worried I’d never get home! But, there’s more than that in it for me… that moron will never see it coming when I steal his treasure _and_ his ship. That’ll be, like, a double whammy. I almost want to snicker thinking about my clever little plot. I’m a genius!

“We’ll head out tomorrow morning. Make sure you get plenty of rest before then, yeah?” He says, floating down from his stool.

“Mm-hmm!” I reply with a joyful nod.

“See you in the morning.”

He heads up the stairs, giving a casual wave to me before disappearing. As soon as he’s out of sight, a barely-contained giggle bursts from my mouth, morphing into maniacal laughter.

Step one of my plan was a _huge_ success, and this is only the beginning!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Laying down a lot of pieces of the plot in this chapter! I can't wait to show what I've got in store~!  
> I've only written up to this point before publishing the fic, so future chapters might take a little bit longer for me to post. I'm planning to write all of the chapters to around the same length as this one.


	3. The Starcutter

I awaken to bright sunlight pouring through the window. Of course, it isn’t real, only a mere simulation; the outpost is far away from any natural sunlight, after all. Nevertheless, it’s enough to stir me from my slumber. Coming to a sitting position, I rub my eyes and take in my surroundings.

I had found my way to a vacant room last night and fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed. It wasn’t a very comfortable bed, mind you, but I was still very exhausted from my last encounter with Kirby.

 _Kirby_ … what are they up to right now? Do I even want to know? Why on Pop Star am I still thinking about them? I try my best to shake any thoughts of them from my head. It’s time to move on; a new plan is ahead of me, and I must focus on it instead of dwelling on the past. Speaking of that, it’s about time that I meet Magolor downstairs.

I squirm off the bed, landing face-first on the floor. With a little struggle, I manage to right myself and come to my feet. It sucks existing without arms.

My whole body is still sore, but a good night’s rest made me feel much better. The floorboards creak like hell as I walk over them, down the hallway and towards the stairs. Reaching the bottom floor, I am greeted by the sight of a room full of people. The place is far more packed than it was last night. Magolor is sitting at one of the tables; he waves to me and motions for me to sit down next to him.

“Hey, Marx. Sleep well?” He asks, his hands folded underneath his chin.

I pull out a chair for myself.

“More than well. That was the longest I’ve slept in ages.” I respond.

“Good, because today’s going to be a long day. We’re going to leave as soon as we’re finished eating. By the way, I got breakfast for you.”

He slides a plate with a full meal towards me. It’s got the essentials: pancakes, eggs, toast… and it looks _delicious_. I immediately begin to devour it. God knows how long it’s been since I last had anything to eat. Magolor looks amused.

“Are you always this big of an eater?”

“Umm, sort of…” I mumble through a mouthful of food.

“The food here isn’t very good, but it’s edible, at least.” He notes, taking a bite of his own stack of pancakes.

‘Not very good’? Is he joking? This tastes like heaven! But, then again, _anything_ would taste good to me right now. It’s not like my stomach is picky after nearly starving for days on end.

After a few minutes, both of us have finished eating.

“You ready to head out?” He asks, wiping his mouth with a napkin. Does he even _have_ a mouth…?

“Yeah, this place is starting to bore me. Let’s bounce.”

We leave the premises. Fresh air and ‘sunlight’ hit my face as Magolor pushes open the doors; it’s kind of disgusting. I almost find myself wishing for the darkness of space once more. I turn around and look back up at the towering outpost, silently thanking it for saving my life. If I hadn’t seen it, I would be stuck floating in the void for all of eternity. What a chilling thought!

“Hey, Marx. You coming?” Magolor asks, glancing over his shoulder.

“Oh—yeah, yeah. I’m coming.”

I quickly jog to him, meeting him in front of the Lor Starcutter.

“Hold on, I’ll open the door for you.” He says, floating up to the ship. He places his palm on the entrance hatch. It reacts to his touch and unlocks just like magic, the door sliding open with a warm glow.

I follow him inside. The interior of the ship is even more grandiose than I expected, with high, arched ceilings, glowing panels, and strange, blinking shapes that line the walls. The inside seems to be bigger than the outside, which throws me for a loop. Frankly, it’s incomprehensible.

“Welcome to the Lor Starcutter!” He announces, holding out his hands in a wide pose. “This is the control room, where the magic happens.”

“Woah...”

“It’ll take a minute for the engines to warm up.”

He begins pressing tons of buttons on the main control panel at lightning speed. I watch over his shoulder in awe, with no clue as to what any of those things actually _do_. How does he remember all of this?

“What’cha doin’?” I ask, standing on my tippy toes.

“The Lor is an ancient machine, so it requires a ton of maintenance to keep it going. Right now, I’m performing a full system check. The Lor has to be in perfect shape to travel through dimensional tunnels.” He responds, glancing at the different screens popping up before him.

“Mm-hmm… I get it.”

Actually, I don’t understand any of it.

“And… that should be it!” He says, pressing a large key in the center of the panel. A low hum becomes audible as the ship starts to rise. “Now, to set the coordinates… there’s a small planet near Halcandra where we’ll make a quick pit-stop.”

“Yeah, yeah… let’s get to it, already!”

“Patience is a virtue, Marx.”

He begins to type in a bunch of numbers on the keypad. I quickly become bored with watching him and decide to go look at something else. I excuse myself to sneak around the other parts of the ship, starting with the west wing.

The door opens automatically as soon as I approach it, startling the living daylights out of me. I stare at it for a moment and begin to giggle, relaxing myself from the fight-or-flight induced stance I had just put myself in. What’s gotten into me? I’m afraid of _doors_ now, apparently. I shrug it off and walk inside.

Now, what’s this? There’s a hallway in front of me with several rooms to my right; each of them is marked with a series of symbols. I tilt my head, examining each one. A leaf? A sword…? A fireball? What could these possibly be used for…?

I poke the first door with my hat, expecting it to open, but it stays closed. Curious. It doesn’t seem like there’s any other way to open it.

“Those are the ability rooms.” Magolor says, appearing seemingly out of nowhere and startling me once again.

“Oh, _god_! You can’t just do that!” I shriek.

“Do what?”

“Sneak up on me! That’s creepy!”

“Ah. Sorry about that.” He giggles. “You seem a bit on edge, friend.”

“I’m not on edge!” I huff. “I’m fine. I’m good… anyway, you said ‘ability rooms’? The hell are those?”

“Oh, well… they contain abilities said to have been used by warriors long ago. I suppose whoever built this ship put them here in some sort of archive. I’ve never been able to get them to open myself.” He explains, running his hand gently across the first door.

“Wait... warriors with abilities, you said?” I think for a moment. Who does that remind me of? “Oh, _Kirby_.”

“Kirby?” He asks, tilting his head quizzically.

“Kirby.” I sigh. “They used abilities just like those. I’ve had… experiences with them.”

“Wait, you’ve met someone who can use these powers?”

“Unfortunately. Dude’s a real goody-goody. Beat the snot out of me.” I kick some dust on the floor, my mouth scrunched up. “I… guess I was being kind of a jerk…”

“How fascinating! I’ve studied the Ancients thoroughly, but I had no idea there was anyone still alive that could utilize those powers. Where did you meet this ‘Kirby’?”

“Pop Star. They’re kind of a big deal there.”

“I suppose that explains why I’ve never heard of them. You’ll have to tell me more about them some time.”

“Yeah, great, sure…” I mutter.

“Anyhow, the ship is ready to travel. Meet me in the control room when you’re done looking around.”

“Gotcha.”

He leaves me alone in the west wing, the door closing automatically behind him. I can’t help but feel upset. Talking about Kirby totally soured my mood, as much as I tried not to let it bother me. Good to know that this guy is a real suck-up to them, just like everyone else… He hasn’t even _met_ them, and he’s already a fan! Just thinking about it is pissing me off.

Oh well, it’s not like I’ll have to deal with him for much longer anyway; this partnership is only temporary.

Begrudgingly, I drag myself back to the control room.

“We’ve lifted off from the outpost. Prepare for dimensional travel!”

“Mm-hmm, fun.” I mutter, scowling at the screen, which is currently showing an obnoxious view of space.

The ship slowly leaves the outpost behind. I can see it shrink in the distance, now appearing only as a speck on the horizon. The window grants me a view of millions of twinkling stars as we fly past, swirling together like a mix of milky wonders. To any normal person, this would probably be a beautiful sight, but I don’t really care for stars anymore. Still, I watch the viewport; there’s basically nothing else for me to do, after all.

There’s something else, though… a shape that seems to grow closer the more I stare at it. What is it? It can’t be an asteroid… asteroids don’t look red, and pointy, and… _oh my god that’s another ship and it’s headed straight for us_.

“Uh… Magolor?”

“Hmm?”

He looks up.

“Oh, pickle.”

“Who _is_ that?”

“I… don’t know. Are they trying to run into us…? Hold on, this might get rough.”

He floats up to the keypad and begins typing something on the control panel again. The Lor lurches to one side, throwing me off balance. It turns away from the strange ship and begins to head in a different direction. Unfortunately, they also turn the same way and continue to follow us.

“This isn’t a mistake, they’re chasing us for sure.” He says, clenching his fist. “We’re already going at max speed, and they’re gaining on us…!”

He’s right, the ship is getting closer by the second.

“What are you going to do?” I ask, starting to panic a little.

“I… I’m not sure, usually the Lor is _way_ faster than anyone else. This is bad.”

Suddenly, the enemy ship fires a beam that pierces right through the Lor Starcutter. But, it doesn’t seem to cause any damage, instead stopping us dead in our tracks and pulling us closer. It’s a tractor beam! Those cheating bastards…!

“They’re going to try to board us…” Magolor mutters, an expression of disbelief washing over his face.

He is proven correct almost immediately; as soon as the Lor contacts the other ship, the sound of pattering footsteps echoes throughout the structure, culminating in a loud, repeated banging noise. Magolor stands his ground, and I try to look as threatening as I can, too.

_Bang. Bang. Bang._

The ceiling begins to crack.

_Bang. Bang. Bang._

The sound grows more intense. I wince and prepare for the worst.

_Bang! Bang! Bang! **SCCCRAASHHHH!**_

A massive hole is created, sending rubble crashing to the floor. A large, blue mouse wearing a bandana tumbles in, making an ungraceful landing that causes him to lose his balance and fall over. Several smaller mice follow him through the newly-created passage, bouncing on his stomach like a trampoline. Finally, three other mice make their entrance, touching down much more gracefully than their big friend.

One is gray and slender, sporting a fabulous top hat. The other is small and yellow, brandishing several shurikens in an attempt to be threatening. The last of the three is a brainy-looking mouse in a UFO, who twitches his mustache at us.

The gray mouse, appearing to be the leader of the bunch, tips his hat to cover his eyes. He delivers a simple, concise introduction:

“Hey, I’m Daroach. We’re the Squeaks, and _we’re here to rob you_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, the Squeaks are here to cause mischief!
> 
> My apologies if this chapter reads rushed, I didn't want to spend too much time staying in one place. There's going to be some real action soon!


	4. The Scuffle

“If you want to ransack the Lor, you’re going to have to go through me, first! I’m the captain of this ship, and you will be leaving immediately!”

Magolor gets right up in Daroach’s face, holding up one finger. He looks unimpressed.

“Oh, boy… another badass. We’ve seen this act before, right boys?” Daroach says, prompting a chuckle from the entourage of rodents behind him. “Listen closely, egg: nobody bosses me around. You’re going to give me what I want, _or else_.”

He unsheathes three sharp claws, brandishing them in Magolor’s face.

“Or else _what?_ And how did you even find me?” Magolor asks.

“It was easy. We saw your lovely little Starcutter parked at the outpost, and we decided that it should be ours; simple as that!” He responds. “You _will_ hand over your ship, or we’ll take it from you by force.”

“I’m not intimidated by you…! You don’t scare me!”

“Aww… look at that… ‘you don’t scare me!’” Daroach mocks, chuckling lightly. “If I ‘don’t scare you’, then how’s about I show you what we’re capable of? Storo, grab him,”

The large mouse lumbers towards us, looming over Magolor. He’s nearly three times as tall as Magolor, and three times as wide – I would be lying if I said the sight of him didn’t make me want to pee myself.

“N-now, now… I wouldn’t – OOF…!”

Magolor is quickly snatched by the behemoth, who holds him tightly in one paw. He struggles and attempts to squirm free, but Storo’s grip is too strong for that. I decide that now is the time to act.

“ _Hey, pinhead! You like balls?_ ” I holler.

He slowly turns to me, clearly caught off guard. I summon a giant, magical ball and kick it directly into his face. The shot lands perfectly, smacking him square in the forehead; this swiftly knocks him off balance, causing him to stumble backwards and release Magolor. He bumps his head on the floor, putting him out for the count.

“Wh—” Daroach stutters. “You want a fight? Well, you’ve got one!”

He leaps forward, preparing to slash me in half. I close my eyes and prepare for impact, but Magolor jumps in front of me and blocks the attack with a magic seal – it absorbs the force of the blow and redirects it right back onto Daroach, sending him bouncing across the floor. With a growl, he comes to his feet.

“Get them, get them, _get them!_ Throw them into space!” He barks.

The other mice swiftly jump into action, forming a massive, colorful formation that charges at us like a tidal wave. Magolor covers my back, gloves crackling with powerful energy.

“I’m going to do something that will get rid of all of them at once. Distract them until I charge it, okay?” He murmurs to me.

“Uh… I’ll try.”

We jump into the air in unison. Now would be a good time for my wings to work! I squeeze my eyes shut and try to summon them, begging them to appear; this time, they come out looking full and beautiful like they used to be, almost completely healed!

“Aw yeah!” I shout, flapping them with excitement.

“You didn’t tell me you had wings, Marx!” Magolor shouts.

“It’s just one of my little tricks.”

He floats towards the ceiling while I take the spotlight. The Squeaks begin to pile up in a tower formation to reach me; little do they know, I’m prepared for it. I summon a giant seed, dropping it directly into the pile. Within a moment, it sprouts a massive, spiked rose vine that sends the mice flying in all directions.

“Doc, Spinni! Take him out of the air!” Daroach exclaims.

“Let’s go!” Spinni cheers. Doc simply nods in response.

He grabs Doc’s UFO and begins to twirl him in circles like a shot-put, much to his surprise. Once the energy has been sufficiently charged, Spinni lets go, launching Doc towards me like an electrified pinball. I quickly dodge out of the way, but he ricochets off the wall behind me.

I duck and twist around the mouse as he bounces from wall to wall, missing me by a hair each time. Eventually, I muster the courage to grab him with my wings, stopping him dead in his tracks mere inches away from my face. He looks panicked, to say the least.

“So, they call you Doc, huh?” I ask, smirking nastily.

“Y-yes…” His muffled voice peeps from the cockpit.

“Well, Doc, you’re going to _need_ a Doc after this one! Bye-bye!”

I quickly toss him right at Spinni, who attempts to dodge, but ends up caught in the explosion regardless. That’s another two of them down for now, but Marx is in trouble; Daroach and the rest of the Squeaks are ganging up on him, creating a meat shield that surrounds him from all sides.

“So, this is it, huh? You’re cornered, what are you going to do?” Daroach sneers.

“Oh, _I’m_ not going to do anything. But Marx will.” He responds, pointing over Daroach’s shoulder.

Daroach turns around, confused. I’m waiting for him.

“ _Heeey_.” I say, wiggling my eyebrows.

He tries to throw a punch, but I’ve already vanished. I re-appear behind him and deliver a swift kick to the back of his head, knocking him away from Magolor. Then, I flap my wings to create a powerful gust of wind that blows the smaller Squeaks away with little effort.

“Nearly there now, and…”

Magolor raises his hands into the air, forming another massive rune that shakily floats to the center of the control room.

“…GO!”

He thrusts his hands forward, and the rune transforms into a black hole. It sucks up the smaller Squeaks, Storo, Spinni, and Doc almost instantly, but Daroach hangs on, clearly struggling against the sheer force of the vortex.

“Don’t think this is over! I won’t forget this…! You’ll regret the day you messed with—”

He’s sucked in before he can finish his sentence. The black hole dumps the Squeaks out of the ship and into space before vanishing into nothingness. Magolor breathes a massive sigh of relief, clutching his side.

“Are you all right…?” I ask, fluttering over to him. The question comes out involuntarily.

“I’m fine, it’s just been a while since I’ve used a spell that powerful.” He groans, coming back to his feet. “But… we did it! We got rid of all of them…!”

He shakes my wings in excitement. “You did an excellent job! Very clever thinking with the vine thing you did!”

“Aw, shucks. It was nothing.” I respond, trying to hide my blush of pride.

“Thanks to you, we protected the Lor from those rowdy thieves! It’s going to need some repairs, of course…” He motions to the huge hole in the ceiling. “…But I’d say that was a lot more than ‘nothing’, you know.”

“All right, yeah; I was pretty great… but you were even _cooler_ with that huge sucky-vortex thingy!”

“I call that my ‘Black Hole Summon’ technique. I’ve been practicing for ages, but this is the first time I’ve ever been able to pull it off.” He says, pushing some loose wall tiles back into place. “Say, Marx… where did you get those powers, anyway…?”

“Do you _really_ want to know?”

“I’m very curious, yes! No ordinary person can possess those abilities.”

“You’re right about that. I was… altered, to put it simply.”

“Tell me everything!”

“Well… all right.”

I take my time explaining my entire adventure in the Milky Way to him, not skipping out on any details. I also glumly explain how Kirby put an end to my evil plot. After I’m finished telling my story, he simply stares at me in shock.

“ _You wished upon a Clockwork Star?!_ ” He asks, his eyes wider than ever. He giggles gleefully. “That’s so… so clever! You played Kirby like a fiddle, didn’t you?!”

“Wait, clever…? You don’t think it was a stupid plan?”

“Are you kidding? You almost achieved world domination! Do you know how many people want something like that?! That much power… it must have felt amazing.”

I like the way this guy thinks.

“It _did_ feel pretty great… but, I totally failed.”

“You hardly failed, Marx. I mean, maybe you didn’t get what you wanted, but you came out of it stronger than before, and with new powers to boot.”

“Yeah… yeah! You’re right! I haven’t thought about it that way…”

He smiles at me reassuringly. At least, I think he’s smiling, it’s kind of hard to tell…

“Now, let’s get to those repairs… I’ll put the Lor into auto-heal mode.” He floats up to the control panel once again, pressing a few buttons. “It will take a while, but we should be ready to leave for Halcandra by tomorrow. Why don’t you get some rest?”

I _do_ feel like taking a nap after all of that - I didn’t realize just how exhausted the battle had left me.

“Sure thing. But… what about you?” I ask, yawning.

“I’ve got to stay awake to ensure the process goes smoothly. But… don’t worry about me. I don’t need sleep.”

I’m a little weirded out by the implications of that.

“Well, if you say so. I’m off to bed.”

“Have a good nap!”

I make my way down to the lower deck of the ship, passing by a room that I assume is Magolor’s bedroom. I’m almost inclined to peek inside, but I decide against it. There’s a door leading to the guest bedroom down the hallway.

The guest bedroom is modestly furnished, with only a bed, a wardrobe, and a bedside table, decorated with a small flower pot holding some strange plant. Notably, the entire room seems to be coated in a thick layer of dust, but it doesn’t bother me at all; I hop onto the sheets, my head hitting the pillow with a gentle thump. I can’t help but let out another huge yawn.

As I lay on the bed, my mind starts to wander. As weird as it is to say, I think I’m beginning to have second thoughts about this new plan of mine… there’s something about Magolor that I can’t deny; he’s been nothing but hospitable and friendly to me, even when I treated him rudely. There’s a weird feeling bubbling inside of me, and I don’t like it. Am I starting to consider him as an ally…? No… that’s not the right word… I’m starting to consider him as my _friend_.

I groan, rolling over and shoving my face into the pillow. Is _this_ how it feels to like somebody? For all my life I’ve hated everybody I met. None of them were ever kind to me; I was always treated like some kind of joke. In retrospect, guess I didn’t do much to earn respect from them…

…I’m thinking _way_ too hard about this. Enough is enough.

My body craves sleep, and I’m not in any position to deny it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, looks like Marx is starting to warm up a little!  
> This was my favorite chapter to write so far; action scenes are usually one of my weak points, but I like how this one turned out! I hope to improve even more while writing them in future chapters.
> 
> 12/13 update - Still working on Chapter 4 at a slow pace. I'm working on some side projects, and thinking carefully about where I want this story to go next. I hope to release it soon, so thank you for your patience!


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